 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
||||
|
| <<go back | This page last modified on September 18, 2008 | |
|
||
| Working with Slippery Yarns | ||
|
||
| Rayon and nylon yarns are very popular for knitting and crocheting, and with good reason--they can create fabrics of lovely drape, gleaming, rich color, and silky hand. However, these yarns tend to be rather slippery. This can pose challenges when winding the yarn as well as working with it. With a little extra care when winding and handling slippery yarns, however, you can have good success and beautiful results--here are our tips for minimizing problems: Winding The easiest way to wind slippery yarns from a skein to a ball is to use a yarn swift. If possible, position the swift so that it rotates like a ferris wheel (i.e., vertically). This keeps the fibers from sliding off the arms of the swift. If you don't have a swift available, try a collapsable camp chair. Turn the chair upside-down and semi-collapsed to hang the yarn around the legs, then open them as wide as necessary to keep the hank tight. As with the swift, it works best if you can then turn the chair on its side so that the loop of the skein "hangs" vertically. You can also enlist an assistant to hold the open skein over his or her hands. Again, use a bit of tension and position the hands one above the other rather than side by side. If you use the camp chair or assistant method, be sure that you travel the circuit of the yarn skein as you wind the ball. Don't just tug on your strand from one spot. This will pull slippery yarns through the rest of the skein. Your yarn will start binding up very quickly, eventually causing snarls. Instead, stand in front of your chair or assistant and gently pull off a round, lifting the yarn off the skein as you go (your hands will make a circular motion when you do this), then wind the "freed" yarn onto your ball. Resist the temptation to remove multiple rounds, since this causes the yarn to twist, an especially unwelcome trait if you are working with a flat ribbon. Also, we do NOT recommend using a yarn winder--we have found that we get better results, fewer snarls, and fewer gray hairs when we wind rayon yarns into a hand-wound ball. Keep the tension firm, but not tight--you do not want to stretch out the yarn, merely keep it on the ball. Working with the yarn The yarn will be just a slippery once balled and may have the tendency to slide off the ball. To avoid this problem, keep your ball of yarn sheathed, or encapsulated, to hold the strands in position. One way to do this is to wrap the ball snugly in a plastic bag. With the end of the strand hanging out the top, squish as much air out of the bag as possible, and tie it closed tight down on the ball with a twist-tie. It should be tight enough to keep the bag snug round the ball, but loose enough to allow you to pull the strand through the top of the bag. As you use up the ball, don't forget to adjust the twist-tie to keep the bag snug around the ball. The cut-off leg from an old pair of pantyhose works well, too! Pop the ball in the toe and tie a piece of string around the opening with the strand hanging out, or for a open length, tie a knot in one end and use the string on the other. As for implements, we recommend bamboo or wooden needles and crochet hooks. They produce a bit more friction and will therefore be less apt to let the yarn slide off. Nickel-plated and "turbo" needles are probably not a good choice. |
||
|
||
| <<go back | ^ go to top ^ | |
| All content and digital assets on this site (including images) are property of FuzzyMabel, LLC, and may not be duplicated, reproduced, or used in any manner without written permission. Copyright © 2002-2010 FuzzyMabel, LLC. All rights reserved. |
||